Deuteronomy 8

 

I suppose there would never be an apostate, there would never be a crime, if people remembered, really remembered, the things they had covenanted at the water's edge or at the sacrament table and in the temple. I suppose that is the reason the Lord asked Adam to offer sacrifices, for no other reason than that he and his posterity would remember—remember the basic things that they had been taught. I guess we as humans are prone to forget. It is easy to forget. Our sorrows, our joys, our concerns, our great problems seem to wane to some extent as time goes on, and there are many lessons that we learn which have a tendency to slip from us. The Nephites forgot. They forgot the days when they felt good.

 

I remember a young Navaho boy returning from his mission who was supported largely by a seventies quorum in the Bonneville Stake. I happened to be present the day he made his report and as tears rolled down his face, he said, "Oh, if I could only remember always just how I feel now." (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, edited by Edward L. Kimball [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1982], 113)

 

 

The scriptures reflect a high integration because of the true editorial control of the Holy Spirit, another reason for reading them carefully rather than skimming over their surface.

 

It would be useful, for instance, for you to help students see the literal relationships among the scriptures. We find in Matthew 4:4: “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Similarly, in Deuteronomy 8:3 we read: “And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.” [Deut. 8:3]

 

Jesus carefully and repeatedly honored the preceding prophets. This gives us a clue as to how important it is for us to relate the scriptures to each other. (“Teaching Opportunities from the Old Testament,” Ensign, Apr. 1981, 56)

 

 

All that Moses wrote in praise of the richness and productivity of the promised land, and more than he wrote, can be applied to this great land of America—a land of corn, wheat, barley, and all other kinds of grain—a land of milk and honey —a land where we eat bread without scarceness—a land whose stones are gold, silver, and iron, and out of whose hills we dig copper—a land aptly called the "granary of the world."

 

His words of admonition are equally applicable

 

When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. (Deut. 8:10.) (Gospel Ideals: Selections from the Discourses of David O. McKay [Salt Lake City: Improvement Era, 1953], 318)

 

 

It has always been so. When the lives of the people are in harmony with the Lord’s will, all of the essential factors that produce the blessings God deigns to give to his children seem to come into line. Love and harmony prevail. Even the weather, the climate, and the elements seem to respond. Peace and tranquillity endure. Industry and progress mark the lives of the people. It is as the Lord has promised:

 

If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;

Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.

And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. (Lev. 26:3–6.)

 

Perhaps the greatest tragedies of all time have occurred when people have received the promised blessings of the Lord and then have forgotten the source of their good life. (“The Lord Will Prosper the Righteous,” Ensign, Nov. 1992, 41–42)

 

The worst fear I have about this people is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and His people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty, and all manner of persecution, and be true. But my greater fear … is that they cannot stand wealth. (James S. Brown, Life of a Pioneer, Salt Lake City: Geo. Q. Cannon and Sons Co., 1900, pp. 122–23)

 

 

We say, "My brains are responsible for this invention. From my brilliance comes this great knowledge. It is my strength that carries this burden."

 

…How does one get humble ? To me, one must constantly be reminded of his dependence. On whom dependent? On the Lord. How remind one's self? By real, constant, worshipful, grateful prayer.

 

"How can I remain humble?" the brilliant missionary asks. By reminding one's self frequently of his own weaknesses and limitations, not to the point of depreciation, but an evaluation guided by an honest desire to give credit where credit is due.

 

Humility is teachableness—an ability to realize that all virtues and abilities are not concentrated in one's self. (January 16, 1963, BYU Speeches of the Year, 1963 2-3)

 

Those who “live without God in the world” anxiously glean their few and fleeting satisfactions, but they are unable to find real happiness (see Mosiah 27:31; Morm. 2:13). Today many are caught up in one form or another of the “club-and-pub” culture. Others focus on the popular and pervasive substitutes for real religion—sports and politics. All this is accompanied by political churning as you and I watch the secular “Princes come, Princes go, An hour of pomp and show they know.”

 

As in the days of Noah, many individuals become preoccupied with life’s routine, such as “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” (Matt. 24:38; see also Matt. 24:36–39). Many of those comfortably situated say, “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing” (Rev. 3:17), while being confused about causality, saying, “My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth” (Deut. 8:17). It is much today as in ancient Israel when “every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judg. 17:6; Judg. 21:25). In our time, “every man walketh in his own way, and after … the likeness of the world” (D&C 1:16), which might be called everyman ethical relativism—and we are swamped by it in our time.

 

Shorn of spiritual memory, people thus “do their own thing,” resulting in an uninspired, unanchored individualism that rejects the need for spiritual submissiveness, which, after all, is one of the great purposes of life’s trek. Ancient Israel was advised: “And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no” (Deut. 8:2).

 

Ignorant of the plan of salvation, many simply do not know what the journey of life is all about. Therefore, modern selfishness and skepticism brush aside the significance of the Savior, considering Jesus merely “a man” (Mosiah 3:9) or “a thing of naught” (1 Ne. 19:9). (“The Richness of the Restoration,” Ensign, Mar. 1998, 9)